Education & Training

Educational Requirements in Ontario There are two dental schools in Ontario and a total of 10 dental schools across Canada. The majority of ODA members are graduates of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Dentistry, or the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont. Admission to Ontario's dental schools requires completion of at least two years of an accredited undergraduate degree program.

However, possessing a dental degree is only the first step to practising dentistry in Ontario. All practitioners must fulfill the requirements of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO) before they are licensed to practise in Ontario.

Foreign-trained Dentists Some ODA members received their dental education in other Canadian provinces, and others at dental schools in the United States and overseas. These programs are usually four years in length, resulting in a DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) or DMD (Doctor of Dental Medicine) degree. There is no difference between these two degrees.

To serve the growing number of foreign-trained dentists seeking to practise in Ontario, both dental schools offer a special two-year program that leads to a degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS).

The foreign-trained dentist program is known as the International Dentist Advanced Placement Program (IDAPP) at the University of Toronto, and the Internationally Trained Dentist Program (ITD) at the University of Western Ontario.